Oh, no! Missed the chance in a million!

[lightning]

I am a TV engineer, and although l am not very old, l like old things.

I always wanted a vintage TV and a few years ago l managed to get an untouched Bush TV 24 (wooden cabinet version)

I replaced some valves plus all the wax capacitors, and the old girl only worked straight off the bat!
So l bought a standards converter and after my friend who used to work on these (sadly since passed away) did a bit of tweaking, including tbe ion trap magnet being on the wrong side, a good picture and sound was produced.

ANYWAY....l went to the tip this week and sat among the scrap tellys was a 1950's Peto Scott rear projection TV in good/complete condition!

I always wanted one of these, so went back with my van (l had gone in the Land Rover which
would not fit under the barrier)

But it was gone, the container had been emptied

I guess l will never see another one of these sets, let alone have the opportunity to buy one! Although l guess l would never have got it working, l was lucky with the TV 24

[Peter.N.]

From what I remember of projection sets when the were new I would steer clear of them unless you are up for a challenge. The only one I have had any experience with were Philips, they never have been known for simple circuits but their projection set takes the biscuit, it also has 400v HT from two PZ30's and it bites.

The Bush sets are another thing completely, I cut my TV teeth on the early Bushes from the TV1&2 onwards - much more straightforward.

Peter

[ben]

Wasn't there a move last year by some folk on here to get the recycling companies to set aside any 'woodies'?
You never know, it may yet escape the breaker's.

[peter_scott]

You might like this one.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Very-Old-P...item58a68684f2

It looks pretty unmessed with and complete.
The plastic screens normally go this way.

Peter

[crusher19860138]

Originally Posted by lightning

But it was gone, the container had been emptied

You should have tipped the men off that you wanted it, they could have put it to one side for you.

I have done this with my local tip run by Sita waste, they are very helpful.

[lightning]

I tried, but while they were nice, they would not budge.

There is CCTV everywhere and signs warning of a fine of "up to £1,000" for taking things from the containers.

[Station X]

So why did you go back for your van then?

[mark pirate]

It seems that you can no longer buy anything from the tip, I offered a very good price for an old TV, but it was refused
I returned later to find it smashed in the bottom of a skip, so much for being called a 'Recycling centre'!

Mark

[lightning]

I was going to take a chance, and rescue it anyway.

I took a couple of modern TV sets to put in the container, and the old TV would have accidentally fallen into the back of my van.

[AC/HL]

The four words that have done more to damage our society than anything else:
No win no fee.

The four words that have done more to damage our society than anything else:
No win no fee.

Yes...

[lightning]

Indeed.

The reason given for not letting me take the TV was health and safety "if you plug it in and get electrocuted, you could sue us"

[mark pirate]

In the good old days you could buy anything you wanted from the tip, my best find was a radiogram fitted with an entire Quad valve amp & tuner setup for £5
Several of my 405 line sets were also tip finds, it makes my blood boil to think of how much vintage stuff is being needlessly being destroyed due to these stupid rules.

Mark

[AidanLunn]

Two ideas:

1) Whenever one of these sets comes up and the site staff are looking to be a pain in the backside, I guess it might be worth seeing if you can arrange some kind of written agreement stating that you have no intention of plugging it in, it's just for display purposes and all that about cutting the mains lead as far back as the cabinet etc - they'd never know your real intentions. This is how I managed to wangle a Philips radio out of the back "untested" storeroom in a British Heart Foundation shop - it was destined for the tip otherwise. That, a little charm and a lot of pestering worked for me

Heck, those of you with TV repair certificates may even be able to show those off to the staff anyway, that surely must back you up?



2) You could always write to your MP expressing concern at:

a) the destruction of vintage items that will be of historical and cultural value, even as far as the destruction of rare spares for existing vintage TV sets, it's not just for personal reasons, that we're collectors etc. Also make the point that we feel that just seeing the TV in a museum is not enough to educate future generations, to show it *working* to the best of our restoration abilities is far more effective.

b) the fact that this has always happened before with the human race in general, we wipe collectible items out through thoughtlessness then regret it later. The BBC and several ITV companies did this around 30-40 years ago with many of their highly-acclaimed programmes, and look at how much they are regretting that now!

[greenstar]

I wonder if part of the problem is that officialdom hasn't got it's head around the concept of recycling. Everything is about targets and is crude. The most basic, and easiest, which they have got better at, is to reduce everything to raw materials. But the most effective way to save energy and resources is to take the thing out of the waste stream, repair it, or make it into something else. At this point the H&S police and lawyers become a problem. It really gets to me to see a big sign outside Leicester tips exhorting people to 'REUSE RECYCLE'! But they won't do it themselves. They won't sell to the people they are actually there for.

[AC/HL]

I'm afraid that's the way it is now, and there's nothing we can do about it at the point of disposal. We all regret it, but it's outside the remit of the Forum, so can we get back to the one's that got away.

[kalee20]

A good few tips though here (pun intended).

[dave walsh]

Going back to "the ones that got away" [as Mod Bill advised] there is the equivalent but opposite experience as when [in a moment of desperation] I sent items to the the tip only to realise [when I later found the Forum] that members would probaly have accepted or helped me to repair them.

Some time ago I was in Henley and there was a dis-assembled 50's Projection set in a so called "antiques" shop [near George Harrison's place]. Couldn't get to buy it it as the owner had seen a vauable pre-war box set on the Antiques Road Show and was convinced that he had won the lottery. When they did the ARS here in Bexhill there was no one from the town on it and this created a certain amount of disatisfaction in the local paper... It went to the crediblity issue [as a Lawyer would observe].
Dave

[Peter.N.]

Before the TV trade ended and the engineers became almost extinct, I did manage to buy a few TVs from the tip but in order to do so I had to prove to them that I was a TV engineer.

Peter